Take Time

My husband and I recently returned from an Alaskan cruise. We were gone for almost eleven days with little to no phone or internet service. We knew our children were well taken care of and we didn’t spend our time talking about the kids, the money or work. We simply talked.

We enjoyed one another.

It seems odd to say, but we don’t often get the opportunity to focus on each another. We spend our days tag-teaming life, taking turns transporting small humans from one place to another. We focus on tackling to-do lists, maintaining a semi-clean abode and not completely failing at this job of rearing children.

We don’t have time to focus on each other.

But we need to make time.

So often we give all of ourselves to our children and forget to make time for our significant others, and even ourselves. It’s such a destructive act! Our children should be a priority, but so should our significant other. If our relationship with our significant other is not being nurtured, our children are suffering, too.

The relationship with our significant other is the soil in which our children grow. It is our responsibility to ensure it is rich in love, kindness and respect.

Although I knew cultivating my relationship was important prior to our vacation, it became blatantly obvious while away. In our uninterrupted time, we laughed, we planned, we reminisced. We bonded, we grew and we enjoyed.

It was a beautiful time of connection.

It was a needed time of connection.

It was a reminder of the importance of stopping to take time.

It doesn’t have to be eleven days away in the middle of the ocean or wilds of Alaska; it simply has to be purposeful.

Wake up early and spend your quiet time in the presence of one another. Talk to God then talk to each other. Connect before the chaos of the day interrupts your best laid plans.

Stay up after the children go to bed, without cell phones and without television. Talk about your day, your plans, each other. Simply talk. All too often simple communication gets drowned out in the cacophony of every day noise.

Make date night a priority and schedule it on the calendar. I know it’s difficult, and often expensive, to find time to get away, but it doesn’t have to be extravagant. Even a few hours walking through the park can mend bridges and patch the little holes of discontent that happen in the chaos of life.

Making time for your significant other and ensuring your relationship remains a top priority will not only benefit you together, but it will benefit your family as a whole. I am so blessed by my mother and aunt who watched my children while we were away. I’m blessed they encouraged us to take the time and aided in the strengthening of our relationship.

Today, I encourage you to find time for your significant other and lift up the relationship that started it all.

Remember, it doesn’t need to be extravagant, it simply needs to be purposeful.